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Senescence-related myocardial dysfunction: keeping a young heart

Ramzi A Ajjan, Robert T R Huckstepp*, Naveed Akbar, Johann Bauersachs, Jesher Ching Wai Lok, Juel Choppy-Madeleine, Gary Christopher, Mayank Dalakoti, Emily Dawson-Plincke, John Dodds, Georgina M Ellison-Hughes, Costanza Emanueli, Christopher H George, Anushka Goyal, Victoria Higginbotham, Lorenz Holzner, Venkateswarlu Kanamarlapudi, Paolo Madeddu, Claudio Mauro, Fiona Lewis-McDougallAndrew J Murray, Renita Peter Damien Genetus, Emma Short, Mark A Sussman, Adriana A S Tavares, Samuel Thompson, Morya Wadodkar, Stuart R G Calimport, Barry L Bentley

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview article (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

The ageing heart undergoes progressive and substantial changes. Myocardial cells enter a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), associated with alterations in extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing microRNAs, creating an inflammatory environment. These molecular changes, combined with mitochondrial dysfunction, induce myocardial cell hypertrophy, multinucleation, and also result in altered responses to autonomic regulation. Alongside the stress of the continuous workload on the heart over a lifetime, there is a reduction in repair mechanisms, which coupled with fibrosis, steatosis, valve stenosis and compromised blood supply, due to atherosclerosis, ultimately lead to organ dysfunction, and myocardial ageing. Created in Biorender. For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberehag095
Number of pages16
JournalEuropean Heart Journal
Early online date6 Mar 2026
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 6 Mar 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026.

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